THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press SecretaryMonday, January 20, 1997

Inauguration 1997

U.S. Capitol

THE PRESIDENT: My fellow citizens:
At this last presidential inauguration of the 20th
century, let us lift our eyes toward the challenges that await us in
the next century. It is our great good fortune that time and chance
have put us not only at the edge of a new century, in a new
millennium, but on the edge of a bright new prospect in human affairs
-- a moment that will define our course, and our character, for
decades to come. We must keep our old democracy forever young.
Guided by the ancient vision of a promised land, let us set our
sights upon a land of new promise.

The promise of America was born in the 18th century out
of the bold conviction that we are all created equal. It was
extended and preserved in the 19th century, when our nation spread
across the continent, saved the union, and abolished the awful
scourge of slavery.

Then, in turmoil and triumph, that promise exploded onto
the world stage to make this the American Century.

And what a century it has been. America became the
world's mightiest industrial power; saved the world from tyranny in
two world wars and a long cold war; and time and again, reached out
across the globe to millions who, like us, longed for the blessings
of liberty.

Along the way, Americans produced a great middle class
and security in old age; built unrivaled centers of learning and
opened public schools to all; split the atom and explored the
heavens; invented the computer and the microchip; and deepened the
wellspring of justice by making a revolution in civil rights for
African Americans and all minorities, and extending the circle of
citizenship, opportunity and dignity to women.

Now, for the third time, a new century is upon us, and
another time to choose. We began the 19th century with a choice, to
spread our nation from coast to coast. We began the 20th century
with a choice, to harness the Industrial Revolution to our values of
free enterprise, conservation, and human decency. Those choices made
all the difference. At the dawn of the 21st century a free people
must now choose to shape the forces of the Information Age and the
global society, to unleash the limitless potential of all our people,
and, yes, to form a more perfect union.

When last we gathered, our march to this new future
seemed less certain than it does today. We vowed then to set a clear
course to renew our nation.

In these four years, we have been touched by tragedy,
exhilarated by challenge, strengthened by achievement. America
stands alone as the world's indispensable nation. Once again, our
economy is the strongest on Earth. Once again, we are building
stronger families, thriving communities, better educational
opportunities, a cleaner environment. Problems that once seemed
destined to deepen now bend to our efforts: our streets are safer
and record numbers of our fellow citizens have moved from welfare to
work.

And once again, we have resolved for our time a great
debate over the role of government. Today we can declare:
Government is not the problem, and government is not the solution.
We -- the American people -- we are the solution. (Applause.) Our
founders understood that well and gave us a democracy strong enough
to endure for centuries, flexible enough to face our common
challenges and advance our common dreams in each new day.

As times change, so government must change. We need a
new government for a new century -- humble enough not to try to solve
all our problems for us, but strong enough to give us the tools to
solve our problems for ourselves; a government that is smaller, lives
within its means, and does more with less. Yet where it can stand up
for our values and interests in the world, and where it can give
Americans the power to make a real difference in their everyday
lives, government should do more, not less. The preeminent mission
of our new government is to give all Americans an opportunity -- not
a guarantee, but a real opportunity -- to build better lives.
(Applause.)

Beyond that, my fellow citizens, the future is up to us.
Our founders taught us that the preservation of our liberty and our
union depends upon responsible citizenship. And we need a new sense
of responsibility for a new century. There is work to do, work that
government alone cannot do: teaching children to read; hiring people
off welfare rolls; coming out from behind locked doors and shuttered
windows to help reclaim our streets from drugs and gangs and crime;
taking time out of our own lives to serve others.

Each and every one of us, in our own way, must assume
personal responsibility -- not only for ourselves and our families,
but for our neighbors and our nation. (Applause.) Our
greatest responsibility is to embrace a new spirit of community for a
new century. For any one of us to succeed, we must succeed as one
America.

The challenge of our past remains the challenge of our
future -- will we be one nation, one people, with one common destiny,
or not? Will we all come together, or come apart?

The divide of race has been America's constant curse.
And each new wave of immigrants gives new targets to old prejudices.
Prejudice and contempt, cloaked in the pretense of religious or
political conviction are no different. (Applause.) These forces
have nearly destroyed our nation in the past. They plague us still.
They fuel the fanaticism of terror. And they torment the lives of
millions in fractured nations all around the world.

These obsessions cripple both those who hate and, of
course, those who are hated, robbing both of what they might become.
We cannot, we will not, succumb to the dark impulses that lurk in the
far regions of the soul everywhere. We shall overcome them.
(Applause.) And we shall replace them with the generous spirit of a
people who feel at home with one another.

Our rich texture of racial, religious and political
diversity will be a Godsend in the 21st century. Great rewards will
come to those who can live together, learn together, work together,
forge new ties that bind together.

As this new era approaches we can already see its broad
outlines. Ten years ago, the Internet was the mystical province of
physicists; today, it is a commonplace encyclopedia for millions of
schoolchildren. Scientists now are decoding the blueprint of human
life. Cures for our most feared illnesses seem close at hand.

The world is no longer divided into two hostile camps.
Instead, now we are building bonds with nations that once were our
adversaries. Growing connections of commerce and culture give us a
chance to lift the fortunes and spirits of people the world over.
And for the very first time in all of history, more people on this
planet live under democracy than dictatorship. (Applause.)

My fellow Americans, as we look back at this remarkable
century, we may ask, can we hope not just to follow, but even to
surpass the achievements of the 20th century in America and to avoid
the awful bloodshed that stained its legacy? To that question, every
American here and every American in our land today must answer a
resounding "Yes." (Applause.)

This is the heart of our task. With a new vision of
government, a new sense of responsibility, a new spirit of community,
we will sustain America's journey. The promise we sought in a new
land we will find again in a land of new promise. (Applause.)

In this new land, education will be every citizen's most
prized possession. Our schools will have the highest standards in
the world, igniting the spark of possibility in the eyes of every
girl and every boy. And the doors of higher education will be open
to all. The knowledge and power of the Information Age will be
within reach not just of the few, but of every classroom, every
library, every child. Parents and children will have time not only
to work, but to read and play together. And the plans they make at
their kitchen table will be those of a better home, a better job, the
certain chance to go to college.

Our streets will echo again with the laughter of our
children, because no one will try to shoot them or sell them drugs
anymore. Everyone who can work, will work, with today's permanent
under class part of tomorrow's growing middle class. New miracles of
medicine at last will reach not only those who can claim care now,
but the children and hardworking families too long denied.

We will stand mighty for peace and freedom, and maintain
a strong defense against terror and destruction. Our children will
sleep free from the threat of nuclear, chemical or biological
weapons. Ports and airports, farms and factories will thrive with
trade and innovation and ideas. And the world's greatest democracy
will lead a whole world of democracies.

Our land of new promise will be a nation that meets its
obligations -- a nation that balances its budget, but never loses the
balance of its values. (Applause.) A nation where our grandparents
have secure retirement and health care, and their grandchildren know
we have made the reforms necessary to sustain those benefits for
their time. (Applause.) A nation that fortifies the world's most
productive economy even as it protects the great natural bounty of
our water, air, and majestic land.

And in this land of new promise, we will have
reformed our politics so that the voice of the people will always
speak louder than the din of narrow interests -- regaining the
participation and deserving the trust of all Americans. (Applause.)

Fellow citizens, let us build that America, a nation
ever moving forward toward realizing the full potential of all its
citizens. Prosperity and power -- yes, they are important, and we
must maintain them. But let us never forget: The greatest progress
we have made, and the greatest progress we have yet to make, is in
the human heart. In the end, all the world's wealth and a thousand
armies are no match for the strength and decency of the human spirit.
(Applause.)

Thirty-four years ago, the man whose life we celebrate
today spoke to us down there, at the other end of this Mall, in words
that moved the conscience of a nation. Like a prophet of old, he
told of his dream that one day America would rise up and treat all
its citizens as equals before the law and in the heart. Martin
Luther King's dream was the American Dream. His quest is our quest:
the ceaseless striving to live out our true creed. Our history has
been built on such dreams and labors. And by our dreams and labors
we will redeem the promise of America in the 21st century.

To that effort I pledge all my strength and every power
of my office. I ask the members of Congress here to join in that
pledge. The American people returned to office a President of one
party and a Congress of another. Surely, they did not do this to
advance the politics of petty bickering and extreme partisanship they
plainly deplore. (Applause.) No, they call on us instead to be
repairers of the breach, and to move on with America's mission.

America demands and deserves big things from us -- and
nothing big ever came from being small. (Applause.) Let us remember
the timeless wisdom of Cardinal Bernardin, when facing the end of his
own life. He said: "It is wrong to waste the precious gift of time,
on acrimony and division."

Fellow citizens, we must not waste the precious gift of
this time. For all of us are on that same journey of our lives, and
our journey, too, will come to an end. But the journey of our
America must go on.

And so, my fellow Americans, we must be strong, for
there is much to dare. The demands of our time are great and they
are different. Let us meet them with faith and courage, with
patience and a grateful and happy heart. Let us shape the hope of
this day into the noblest chapter in our history. Yes, let us build
our bridge. (Applause.) A bridge wide enough and strong enough for
every American to cross over to a blessed land of new promise.

May those generations whose faces we cannot yet see,
whose names we may never know, say of us here that we led our beloved
land into a new century with the American Dream alive for all her
children; with the American promise of a more perfect union a reality
for all her people; with America's bright flame of freedom spreading
throughout all the world.

From the height of this place and the summit of this
century, let us go forth. May God strengthen our hands for the good
work ahead -- and always, always bless our America. (Applause.)